Rent increase

saajan_12

OP, I know it's hard when you were mentally banking on a £600 figure, but its likely not as bad as it seems.

1. Accounting for inflation, even the new £635 is lower than the starting 600 in real terms. Hopefully your income has also increased at some point. The 'low' rent could have been increased by inflation each year to more than £635 by now and would still be considered low.

2. In a well maintained property, you shouldn't need to redecorate that often. 3 years of discount to cover decoration at the start should suffice, and rents brought back up to market levels after that.

3. Is the property priced in line with the market? There's no point in considering sunk costs; if it's still a better deal than you'll get elsewhere, you're better off staying.

4. You don't have to keep decorating as it sounds like the agreement was vague at best regarding ongoing work. The LL may or may not agree with you on the necessity or quality of work required at this point though. Next time leave decoration etc to the LL or if you atleast get a specific written agreement to do work for a fixed price. What if the LL had evicted you after the first year, after you'd just done all that work?

Crashy_Time

always_sunny wrote: »

you reckon? I think it's more likely going to be the other way around beside locations that were inflated (i.e. London). There was some article a while back; it'll be interesting to see a HUGE drop outside of London (excluding some hot spots) where rents and housing is already cheap.

The national average rent fell to £921 in February, down 0.6% year-on-year
Central London -1.0%
Greater London -4.7%
South-east -2.6%
East of England +3.1%
South-west +1.8%
Wales +5.3%
Scotland +0.7%
North +2.7%
Midlands +2.8%
GB -0.6%
GB (ex London) +0.8%

It is the lending rules and tax changes that are making it tougher for landlords, and there may be less people chasing rentals after Brexit.

always_sunny

Crashy_Time wrote: »

It is the lending rules and tax changes that are making it tougher for landlords, and there may be less people chasing rentals after Brexit.

I know you keep banging on this, but chances of UK housing to become a bargain corner is very slim anytime soon.

Crashy_Time

always_sunny wrote: »

I know you keep banging on this, but chances of UK housing to become a bargain corner is very slim anytime soon.

It was only prevented from becoming a "bargain corner" when central banks and governments intervened on a massive scale, that intervention has cost them a lot politically, Trump, Brexit, Le Pen etc. What makes you think that they will continue propping up the market, after all they are already trying to make BTL much harder for people?

AdrianC

Crashy_Time wrote: »

It was only prevented from becoming a "bargain corner" when central banks and governments intervened on a massive scale, that intervention has cost them a lot politically

Not a fraction as much as NON-intervention would have...

BTW : https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471113558/
If you want a fairly deep overview about what really happened in 2008, why, and who's to blame - this really is very, very readable.

theartfullodger

Discussion about rents rising, falling, woteva....
http://www.propertytribes.com/are-rents-increasing-or-falling-t-127629230.html

always_sunny

Crashy_Time wrote: »

What makes you think that they will continue propping up the market, after all they are already trying to make BTL much harder for people?

Making BTL harder doesn't mean that those renting now (for whatever reason) will be rushing to buy tomorrow. Mortgages tend to be cheaper than rent because the LTV is different.

Chances are, it's more likely going to get tougher for those renting.
In your anecdotes you often forget to mention where you think folks will live in the meantime...

Crashy_Time

always_sunny wrote: »

Making BTL harder doesn't mean that those renting now (for whatever reason) will be rushing to buy tomorrow. Mortgages tend to be cheaper than rent because the LTV is different.

Chances are, it's more likely going to get tougher for those renting.
In your anecdotes you often forget to mention where you think folks will live in the meantime...

Regulation to make renting easier is more likely IMO. It has already started.

Crashy_Time

AdrianC wrote: »

Not a fraction as much as NON-intervention would have...

BTW : https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471113558/
If you want a fairly deep overview about what really happened in 2008, why, and who's to blame - this really is very, very readable.

Thanks for the link, will take a look. Yes, they had to intervene at some level, but the lengths they have gone to (the absolute refusal to allow Greece to default for example) have come at a political cost, and that genie can`t be put back in the bottle IMO. Breaking up the big banks, clawing back bonus/pensions, and even prosecution/jail sentences for guilty bankers would have been very appealing to the UK voting public IMO.

Crashy_Time

always_sunny wrote: »

Making BTL harder doesn't mean that those renting now (for whatever reason) will be rushing to buy tomorrow. Mortgages tend to be cheaper than rent because the LTV is different.

Chances are, it's more likely going to get tougher for those renting.
In your anecdotes you often forget to mention where you think folks will live in the meantime...

Tory MP seems to disagree? https://www.property118.com/putting-pressure-conservative-mp/98026/